Transcutaneous electrical cranial-auricular acupoint stimulation versus escitalopram for mild-to-moderate depression: An assessor-blinded, randomized, non-inferiority trial.

AIM: Transcutaneous electrical cranial-auricular acupoint stimulation (TECAS) is a novel non-invasive therapy that stimulates acupoints innervated by the trigeminal and auricular vagus nerves. An assessor-blinded, randomized, non-inferiority trial was designed to compare the efficacy of TECAS and escitalopram in mild-to-moderate major depressive disorder. METHODS: 468 participants received two TECAS sessions per day at home (n = 233) or approximately 10-13 mg/day escitalopram (n = 235) for 8 weeks plus 4-week follow-up. The primary outcome was clinical response, defined as a baseline-to-endpoint ≥50% reduction in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score. Secondary outcomes included remission rate, changes in the severity of depression, anxiety, sleep and life quality. RESULTS: The response rate was 66.4% on TECAS and 63.2% on escitalopram with a 3.2% difference (95% confidence interval [CI], -5.9% to 12.9%) in intention-to-treat analysis, and 68.5% versus 66.2% with a 2.3% difference (95% CI, -6.9% to 11.4%) in per-protocol analysis. The lower limit of 95% CI of the differences fell within the prespecified non-inferiority margin of -10% (P ≤ 0.004 for non-inferiority). Most secondary outcomes did not differ between the two groups. TECAS-treated participants who experienced psychological trauma displayed a markedly greater response than those without traumatic experience (81.3% vs 62.1%, P = 0.013). TECAS caused much fewer adverse events than escitalopram. CONCLUSIONS: TECAS was comparable to escitalopram in improving depression and related symptoms, with high acceptability, better safety profile, and particular efficacy in reducing trauma-associated depression. It could serve an effective portable therapy for mild-to-moderate depression.

Variation and significance of NKT cell and its subset in patients with severe multiple injuries.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the variation and significance of natural killer T (NKT) cells in patients with severe multiple injuries. METHODS: Peripheral blood was drawn from 30 patients with severe multiple injuries and 20 healthy individuals. NKT cells and the subsets of NKT cells were stained and analyzed on fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) using Cellquest software. The level of IL-4 and IFN-gamma in blood serum was detected by ELISA. RESULTS: The proportion of NKT cells was significantly increased. CD4+ NKT cells was increased (t equal to -3.11, P less than 0.01) and CD4+CD8+NKT (double negative NKT, DN NKT) cells decreased in patients with severe multiple injuries compared with healthy controls (t equal to 2.99, P less than 0.01). There was a positive correlation between the proportion of NKT cells and injury severity score (ISS) by Spearman correlation analysis (r equal to 0.70, P less than 0. 01). The level of IFN-gamma was significantly decreased and the level of IL-4 significantly increased in patients with severe multiple injuries. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that human NKT cells are increased in trauma patients. Most significantly, there is an association between ISS and NKT cells. The increased CD4+NKT cells may contribute to the reduction of Th1 cytokine production and the growth of Th2 cytokine production, leading to the suppression of immunity after injury.

[Changes of aquaporin expression during lung development in rats].

OBJECTIVE: Many studies have shown that tissue development is closely correlated with fluid transport. Aquaporins (AQPs) are a group of cell membrane proteins that actively and selectively transport water. This study aimed to investigate the changes of AQPs expression during lung development in rats in order to elucidate the role of AQPs in the rat lung development. METHODS: AQP1, AQP3, AQP4 and AQP5 proteins and mRNA in the lung cell membrane were measured by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) respectively in the 20-day-old embryo (E20), 7-day-old newborn rat, and one-month-old young and adult rats. The correlation between AQPs expression and lung development was studied. RESULTS: With increasing age, the lung development showed a dynamic and successive course, with the most rapid from the fetus to the newborn rat, and then a slowed down afterwards. AQPs mRNA was weakly expressed in the lung of the E20 group. Lung AQPs mRNA and protein increased rapidly after birth until adulthood. The AQPs distribution patterns in the lung were unique with no duplication. There was a positive correlation between AQPs expression and lung development (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to being involved in the transepithelial transport of water in the lung, AQPs is also related to its development.

Identification of 5' capped structure and 3' terminal sequence of hepatitis E virus isolated from Morocco.

AIM: To examine 5' and 3' terminal sequences of hepatitis E virus (HEV) isolated from Morocco, to confirm 5' methylated cap structure of the genome, and to investigate whether the 3' UTR can be used to distinguish HEV genotypes instead of HEV complete genome sequence. METHODS: RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLM-RACE) was employed to obtain the 5' and 3' terminal sequences of HEV Morocco strain. The 3' UTR sequence of the Morocco strain was compared with that of the other 29 HEV strains using the DNAStar software. RESULTS: The 5' PCR product was obtained only from the RLM-RACE based on the capped RNA template. The 5' UTR of the Morocco strain had 26 nucleotides, and the 3' UTR had 65 nucleotides upstream to the polyA. The 5' UTR between HEV strains had only point mutations of nucleotides. The phylogenetic tree based on the sequences of 3' UTR was not the same as that based on the complete sequences. CONCLUSION: The genome of HEV Morocco strain was methylated cap structure. The 3' terminal sequence can not be used for distinguishing HEV genotype for all HEV strains in place of the whole HEV genome sequence.

[Cloning and eukaryotic expression of mouse interleukin 21].

AIM: To clone mouse interleukin 21(mIL-21) gene and construct its eukaryotic expression vector. METHODS: mIL-21 cDNA was amplified from ConA-activated mouse T cells by RT-PCR. And then the cDNA was cloned into eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1 to construct recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1/mIL-21 which was introduced into Sp2/0 cells by lipofectin. Expression of mIL-21 gene was detected by RT-PCR and NK cytotoxicity assay. RESULTS: Recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1/mIL-21 was constructed correctly and mIL-21 gene was expressed in transfected Sp2/0 cells. CONCLUSION: mIL-21 gene was cloned and expressed successfully, which lays the foundation for further studying anti-tumor effect of mIL-21 gene therapy in animal models.